The RACER Mailbag, May 20

Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers can be sent to mailbag@racer.com. We love hearing your comments and opinions, but letters that include a question are more likely to be published. Questions received after 3pm ET each Monday will be saved for the following week.

Q: I'm excited for the race this coming weekend. In fact, I'm more excited than usual because I'm attending my very first Indy 500 this year!

I know you probably get this question all the time, but do you have any tips for a first-timer? Right now, my itinerary consists of Carb Day, the Carb Night Classic at IRP, the IMS Museum, the Little 500 at Anderson Speedway, and of course, the Indianapolis 500 itself.

Is there anything else I should be on the lookout for?

Garrick, Alabama

MARSHALL PRUETT: Main Street across from Turn 1 is a lot of fun during race week. Visit Dallara for a tour. Go to the Foyt Wine Bar across the street. Buy a ticket and watch me roast drivers at Dallara Thursday night at the Last Row Party. Go eat breakfast at Charlie Brown’s and see if AJ Foyt is there mowing down a plate of goodness. Head out to Plainfield – about 30 minutes away – somewhere between Thursday afternoon and Saturday afternoon for the Indy Memorabilia Show. Bring cash to buy donuts and enjoy the line at Long’s. Grab a burger and fries at The Workingman’s Friend. Consume a lifetime’s worth of oil with the fried foods at Mug-n-Bun and get Diabetes 1,2, and 3 after consuming a gallon of their homemade root beer.

Q: Hats off to Katherine Legge in qualification, placing 27th with a program coming together so late and her attempt at the double. Breaking records along the way, but I'm biased as I've always been a fan.

Reading last week's Mailbag, I fully agree with the comments and questions around the late yellow flags, but this has long been an issue in IndyCar, and we should give credit to the new team for finally doing something. I also hope they make better calls over the flag calls (we've seen so many different interpretations around red flags and restarts). 

However, across many different racing series, drivers not respecting yellow flags has become worse (I was standing at Wheatcroft straight near Redgate for the BTCC race to pole, and it looked like no one was slowing down for the yellow when a live snatch was occurring). For me, that is one of the biggest issues around yellow flags. Can we start taking it seriously? Needs to be an increase in the severity of penalties, etc.

Dan, UK

MP: Indeed.

Don't have any relevant pics for the first two letters, so this feels like as good a place as any for the annual 'rookie milking a cow' shot. Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment

Q: I see Jack Harvey has now managed to make it to another Last Row Party. He had a 33rd in 2023, a 32nd in 2022 and a 31st in 2018. The only driver I know of with a last row resume.  Now, he gets to the party on a disqualification. Do you think it is about the food at the party? 

John, Venice, Fl

MP: My first time hosting it was 2024 and I’m so thankful for your reminder of Jack’s obscure attraction to being roasted.  

Q: If all the cars have to pass inspection prior to their attempt at qualifying, were the infractions of the No.4 and No.24 entries missed as they were allowed to make their qualifying attempts? Are all the cars after qualifying required to pass through tech inspection again, or were the No.4 car and the No.24 car randomly selected?

Gary

MP: Important thing to know is the harsher technical inspections always take place after the big thing, not before. The rules are the same for everyone before and after qualifying and the race. Pre-tech is fairly stout, but there’s a schedule to keep, so tearing cars down to the last nuts and bolts before qualifying and the race makes no sense.

So tech goes through main items, and afterwards, with the benefit of time, a more intensive inspection is done since there’s no session looming. It’s on the teams to be compliant at all times; if they run a car with something that’s illegal, it’s on them for being illegal, not on tech to do a forensic autopsy before the session.

In theory, your local police force should prevent all crime. But that doesn’t happen, despite their best efforts. Tech tries to prevent the things that would provide a competitive advantage, but it would be silly to expect them to apply a layer of control that has all cars in an unwavering state of perfection with compliance. Just isn’t realistic.

Q: The details for the Freedom 250 GP were released, and I can only say that I am quite disappointed. It might be a cool spectacle for DC locals, but for diehard Northeast IndyCar fans it leaves much to be desired. I understand it's free, but the absence of guaranteed tickets makes it difficult to plan a trip. 

The grounds are also split in two, so you cannot just walk around the venue as you would most street races. Worse, seats are not reserved. Heaven knows what time one would need to be on site, to get through security, and rush to a grandstand to get a seat.  

Perhaps the biggest punch for someone like myself is the lack of paddock access, a hallmark to IndyCar Series, and one of the main reasons I have attended its races.  I'm very disappointed.  Being a die hard, I might attempt to go anyway, but I offered some other racing friends of mine, and they balked at the uncertainties. Why can't we just get a normal IndyCar event back up here again?

Greg, NJ

MP: I hear you, but this is a one-time thing for a special anniversary. It’s going to have all kinds of limitations due to the location and government-infused blueprint behind it. It might be the lamest thing ever, a nothing burger, or the best event in the history of the planet. I have no idea. But it’s happening once and then it will be gone.